Women’s basketball in Maryland fell 1-1 on Friday night, with No. 1 South Carolina proving to be overkill as senior guard Diamond Miller sat out with a knee injury. The Gamecocks started to pull away in the second half, eventually taking a top 20 matchup, 81-56.
Here are three takeaways from Friday’s game.
The South Carolina size was too big to handle.
Going into Friday’s contest, the storyline was a battle between Aaliyah Boston and Diamond Miller and how Tarp could hold up against the Gamecock’s tremendous size advantage.
With Miller’s absence announced just before tip-off, South Carolina often opposed a Maryland lineup early on that had no player taller than 6-foot-3 in its rotation.
The Terps were able to keep the game within reach for over 25 minutes by drawing fouls and keeping South Carolina deep and cool, but Gamecock’s huge rebounding advantage finally came into play. .
The Gamecocks finished with an impressive 14 offensive rebounds, and Boston, junior center Camila Cardoso, and senior forward Laetitia Amihele all finished on at least three offensive boards.
“The rebound is what we are, and we know that’s what separates us,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said.
These three players are the tallest of any player in Maryland’s rotation, and Terp’s size deficit continues to be questioned.
South Carolina finished with a big advantage in both rebounding and paint points. That dropped 40 points to Maryland’s 20 and more than doubled the Terps in offensive and total rebounds.
Maryland’s defenses bent, but did not break until late.
At the 7:27 mark of the second quarter, head coach Brenda Freese called a timeout with his team down 27-14, unable to stop South Carolina’s towering offense. At that point, Boston was 4-4 from the field.
Terps then locked in on defense, especially in the turnover division. They took away and he finished the half with a 9-4 advantage.
When asked about the Terps’ defensive game plan, Frese thought his team executed it well, but South Carolina was too big.
“I thought the team did the best they could,” said Freese. “Their size is amazing. They have seven post players coming off the bench.”
Dominating the contest, Boston was forced to make two charges thanks to a stingy collective defensive effort from the diminutive Terps. The South Carolina star benched the rest of the half for foul trouble, and Maryland made the most of it. Terps he finished the first half with a 12-5 run and kept the game on reach heading into the second half.
But with one team doubling the other’s total rebounds, the game eventually fell out of reach, and that happened towards the end of the third quarter.
At the 8:21 mark of the third frame, Carolina led 35-30. After just five minutes, the score was 55-39 for her.
Gamecocks were able to re-establish their dominance inside and find an open shooter outside. They made 3-for-5 threes in the quarter compared to a 15-for-4 mark in the first half.
“The third quarter went away from us, but we worked as hard between the first and second quarters as we did the third and fourth quarters. Be a player and you will get better at this game,” said Freese.
Diamond Miller’s absence loomed large.
The reigning national champions are arguably the better, deeper, more experienced team going into the game. The Terps’ path to victory was further curtailed when Miller’s absence was confirmed, but Maryland held its own for much of the game.
A lot of the load was on Abby Myers’ shoulders, leading the offense against the nation’s highest-scoring defense, and she excelled.
“Of course it’s hard not having Diamond in this game. Like the coach said, she’s definitely a 20 point player and we definitely needed her on the board.
The senior guards lit out with 19 points after 3/4, nearly half of Maryland’s total.
She finished the game with 21 points and 5 rebounds. There are no other terps ending in two digits.
Myers’ dominance was not sustainable for anyone, and as the game lagged in the second half, Miller’s lost stardom began to erode deeply.
“Kudos to South Carolina for what they have on defense. All of their players are really active and long,” Meyers said.
The Terps would have wanted Miller’s threat to counter Boston’s dominance as South Carolina slowly began to take a double-digit lead.
The Gamecocks were too strong, too deep, too strong for the #17 national team on Friday night.
